


Dec 7

by dizzy



Series: Crisscolfer Advent 2015 [7]
Category: Glee RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-07
Updated: 2015-12-07
Packaged: 2018-05-05 15:19:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5380043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dizzy/pseuds/dizzy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"my little sibling mistook your dog for a reindeer and thats the story of how your dog ended up eating carrots inside my house"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dec 7

"Watch your brother, Chuck." 

It's something Chuck hears about five times a week, and he's pretty fed up with it. It's ridiculous - Darren's barely two years younger than he is, and he’s in the double digits now. 

He's also hard to watch. Darren just gets into _so. much. trouble._ He's always running off and Chuck's the one that gets in trouble because no one knows where Darren went and then Chuck will have to spend _his_ evening knocking on doors to see whose kitchen Darren is currently being fed cookies in, or which elderly neighbor he's decided to put on an impromptu cabaret show for. 

He’s putting on his jacket to go outside on a Darren hunt when he hears a low whine from somewhere in the house. It sounds… it sounds like a dog. 

And they don’t own a dog. They don’t own a dog because their mother is allergic and paranoid and in general no one wants to subject a dog to Darren until he’s at least hit his teenage years and hopefully gained some semblance of awareness that everything around him is not a prop. 

(At least, that’s Chuck opinion. He’s not biased at all, no way. Totally not bitter that his parents skipped out on his band playing at Tina’s twelfth birthday party, which was an _actual gig_ like a real band has, just to go to one of Darren’s dumb theater play things. He’s not even any _good_.) 

He pushes open the door to Darren’s bedroom without knocking. Darren’s head jerks up and he immediately looks guilty for about five seconds before his face lights up. “Chuck, I found a reindeer!” 

“Darren, that’s a dog. It’s a _little_ dog. Reindeer are huge.” 

“It’s a baby reindeer,” Darren insists. “He looks like one. He’s all brown and shaggy. Plus, he likes carrots.”

“Dogs don’t eat carrots,” Chuck says. “And it’s a terrier. Like Dorothy’s in Wizard of Oz.” 

“I didn’t finish that movie,” Darren says. “The monkeys scared me. But the Scarecrow was cool. _I could while away the hours-_ ” 

There’s a sock on Darren’s dresser beside where Chuck is standing. He picks it up and throws it at Darren. “Stop singing. And you’re dumb. Dogs don’t eat carrots.” 

“But reindeer do.” Darren smirks smugly and snaps the tip off one. He feeds it to the dog, whose tail thumps happily. 

“Okay, so it’s weird dog. But it’s still a dog.” Chuck rolls his eyes. “And it has to go back to its home before Mom gets home, so where did you steal him from?” 

Darren sulks. “Those people that just moved into Mr. Fletcher’s house.” 

Chuck marches a reluctant Darren across the street, making him hold the dog and then knock on the front door. “You have to explain what you did, too,” Chuck says. “And if they get mad, you have to tell Mom.” 

Darren glares at him. “Why are you such a butt?” 

“I know you are but what am I?” Chuck quickly manages to say just before the door opens. 

A woman answers who looks about their mom’s age. “Oh, thank god, you found Colin! My son was about to have one heck of a fit thinking we’d lost him forever.” 

“I’m sorry, ma’am,” Chuck says politely. “My brother-”

“Found him,” Darren says, with one of those angelic smiles. “He must have gotten out of your yard,so I found him and gave him carrots.” 

“Carrots?” The woman laughs. “Well, thank you-” 

“ _Mom_ , is that Colin-” A high, sweet voice calls out. 

“It sure is,” she says, turning. A little boy shows up, face red and eyes a little wet. 

He holds his arms out to Darren, wanting his dog back. Darren hands him over and, possibly for the first time in his life, doesn’t actually say anything. Chuck is surprised to see that Darren’s eyes were wide and his mouth was open a little as he stared at the boy. 

“Chris, say thank you to these boys for bringing him home,” Chris’s mother says. 

“Thanks.” Chris is still hugging his dog tight. Colin seems happy to accept the affection, licking Chris along the face. 

Darren still hasn’t said anything. 

“You’re welcome,” Chuck says. “I’m Chuck, by the way. And this is Darren. We live down the street.” 

He points to the house a few doors down. 

“Well, we’ll be sure to stop in and say hi. Chris would probably love some boys to play with once we get settled in.” 

“Sure,” Chuck says politely. Chris is too young to be interesting to him but he’s Darren’s age, and Darren’s never resisted a friend. 

But strangely enough, Darren still doesn’t say anything. Chuck ends up practically dragging him away. “What’s wrong with you?” he asks once they’re almost back home. 

Darren glances back at the house they just walked away from and then says in a hushed voice, “He was _pretty_.” 

Chuck stops walking… and then laughs. Darren’s first crush? And on another boy? It's not like he _cares_ or anything, but - Darren with a crush. If he has to babysit his little brother at least it's going to be some good entertainment now.


End file.
